Rubber heel



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

.RUBBER HEEL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 1, 1921.

Application filed November 17, 1918. Serial No. 338,601.

To all whom it may concern;

Be it known that I, HERMAN L. BEAL, a citizen of the United States,residing at Brookline, in the count of Norfolk and State ofMassachusetts, lave invented certain new and useful Improvements inRubber Heels; and I do hereby declare the following to he a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

The present invention relates to an im prom-intuit in rubber hccls.

In some forms of rubber heels such, for example, as illustrated in thepatent to Nerger, o. (301,129, when the heel is attached to the shoeheel 1t gaps at two places along the breast line on each side of thecenter, perhaps abontmidway between the center and the two breastcorners of the heel. This is obviously objectionable and the object ofthe present invention is to produce a form of rubber heel which, whennailed on the shoe heel will close tightly against the shoe heel notonly around the outside ed e but along the whole breastline as well.othis end the invention consists in the rubber heel hereinafterdescribed and particularly defined in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a face view of the breast of aNerger shaped heel before being attached to the shoe heel; Fig. 2represents the heel after it has been attached; Fig. .3 is a face viewof the breast of the heel of the present invention beforebeing "attachedto the shoe heel; Fig. 4 is a. similar view of the same heel afterbein'gfattached to the shoe heel; Fig. 5 is a plan view looking at theattaching side of the preferred embodiment of the present invention;Fig. 6 is an elevation of the breast'edge of the heel; Fig. 7 is anelevation of the rear edge of the heel; Fig. 8 is a side elevation ofthe heel; Flg, 9 is a. cross-section of the heel taken on the line 9- 9,Fig. 5, looking (in the direction of the arrow) toward the rear of theheel; Fig. 10 is a similar section, taken on the line 10--10, Fig. 5,looking the arrow) in the same direction; and. Fig. 11 is .alongitudinal medial section taken on the line-1111, Fig. 5, looking inthe direction of the arrow.

The Nerger form of heel, a breast view of which is shown in Fig. 1before being attached to the shoe heel arches from edge (in thedirection of to edge of the breast, and when it is attached to the shoeheel it aps open at opposite sides of the center in t 10 manner shown inFig."- 2. According to the present invention it is proposed so to shapethe breast of thehcel that when it is attached to the shoe heel thereare no such gapings along the breast hnc. Fig. 3 shows a breast view ofthe preferred embodiment of the heel before being attached to the shoeheel, and Fig. 4 is a similar view after being attached. The preventionof gapings alon the breast line of the heel is accomplished by shapingthe heel m such wise that when pressure is applied to the heel toflatten it on the shoe heel, the surface of the heel radually comes intocontact with the shoe iieel StitlLing at the edges and movingprogressively toward the con-l ter until the heel makes a contact withthe shoe heel all the wa across the breasts This is accomplished bygiving the heel a. form which is less curved, or straight, or actually,convex on its attaching face at.the v breast near the breast corners.So, while the heel is of generally concave form, itsshape in differentparts is modified'so as to effect this result.

Specifically the heel is described as follows: The ieel isconcav0-eonvex and has so the attaching face 1, the tread face 2 and theflaring side and rear ed es 3. The breast. edge 4 is flared at t ebreast corners, slightly but at the center it is substantiallyvertir'zal. The conchve attaching i519. face of the heel is lowest atthe breast line, and from this point the surface slopes -up;-} ward inall directions to the outer side and, rear edges of the heel. The sideand rear, edges of the heel lire all in one plane, but thlfifi breast 1is arched as shown best in- Fig...4.' This edge of the heel is arched,but not. ctr-ii cularly' arched, the curvature at the centeii, beinggreater than at'the edges. In the p'r'e-i fer-red formshown in thedrawings this edge near the breast corners is reversely curved with theresultjhat when the heel is nailed on the shoe heel, it comes into closecontact all the way across the By reference to Flg. 9 1t =10! withthe-shoe heel breast of the heel. will be seen that the cross-section ofthe heel at that point does not have the reverse curvature'which it hasat the breast; further back on the section shown in Fig. 10 .thor

curvature is continuously in the same diroc tion throughout as in F1 9By reform; i to Fig. 11 it will be seen t at in long tudinal section,the attaching face of the heel extends upwardly and rearwardly from thebreast ed e in a. straight line for about half the len t of the heel,and thereafter curves u war y to the rear upper edge of the heel. '1 eside elevation of the heel shown in Fig. 8 shows the side and rear edgeslocated all in one plane and it shows in dotted line the surface of theheel at the longitudinal medial section and upper breast ed e extendingfrom the center of the longitudinal medial element of the surface to thebreast corners. The heel is preferably in ads uniform in thiclo ness sothat when it is flattened upon the shoe heel its tread surface will befiat.

In Fig. 5 the dash and dot line 5 illustrates the minimum size to whichthe heel may be trimmed without cutting into the washers (i embedded inthe heel in the our trul part of the heel in the usual manner for thepurpose of receiving the nails by which it is secured to the shoe heel.The distance between the dash and (lot line 5 and the edge of theheelshows a wide range of sizes of shoe heels upon which a single heel ofthis kind is adapted for use.

Viewed in its broader aspects the invention contemplates a new form ofheel wherein the attaching face is concave, having a. breast portion ofgreater, curvature at the center thanlitt the edges. More specificallyit contemplates a rubber heel having a concave attaching face whereinthebreast portion of the heel is reversely curved near the side ed es ofthe heel. It is within the purview 0 the invention that the breastportions of the heel should be substantially straight, viewed as in Fig.6, with the curvature of the concavity confined to the central ortion.This form of heel is within the efinition of the language used indefining the invention in its broader aspects because this form of heelhas reater curvature at the center than at the si es of the breast.

While the present invention has beeI'r-illustrated in connection with aheel having a concave attaching face wherein the breast portion of theheel only is reversely curved at the sides, or wherein the breastportion onl' has renter curvature at the center than at he si es, it isto be understood that the invention contemplates a, heel wherein theconcave attaching face is reversely curved or straight at its outerportions, or wherein the concave attaching face has greater curvature atits center than at its outer portions.

It will be observed that when the heel is attached to the shoe, the sideand rear edges are all in contact with the side and rear edges of: theheel of the shoe, and that the breast portion of the heel is archedabove the surface of the shoe heel. As the heel is gradually flatteneddown upon the shoe heel by the driving in of the na ilsthe' side andrear edges of the heel remain firmly in contact with the shoe heel andare held in such contact by the distortion of. the rubber due to itsbeing fiathmcd upon the shoe heel, and, owing to th hart that the breastportion of the heel has n greuler curvature at the center than at itssides, the breast portion of the heel comes into close contact with theshoe heel throughout the whole length of the breast from edge to edge,so as thereby to make and preserve a tight joint along the breast of theheel. This is a feature of importance from the point of view of the customer because of the superior appearance it gives the shoe. In additionthe shoe heel is more durable by reason of the exclusion of water fromunder the rubber heel, for dampness or water under the rubber heeldeteriorates the shoe heel, particularly shoe heels made of paper orleutherboard, which, in

view of the high price of sole leather, have largely supplanted thelatter.

I aving thus described the inventiomwhat is claimed is 1. A rubber heelhaving a concave attaching face and a breast portion of greatercurlatiire at the center than at the sides of the 2. A rubber heelhaving a concave attaching face, the breast'portion of which isconcavely curved at the center and 'reversely curved at the sides. r

3. A rubber heel having a concave attaching face normally open at thebreast, portions at the center having greater curvature than portionsremote from the center.

HERMAN L. BEAL.

